Circle hosts Seoul event to deepen ties with Korean financial firms

Circle is looking to expand its South Korea outreach by organising an invitation-only industry event in Seoul later this month as it pursues new partnerships with banks, crypto exchanges and payments firms.

According to industry officials cited by The Korea Herald, Circle will host Current Seoul on July 23 at Josun Palace under the theme “Korea at a Crypto Inflection.” The event is expected to bring together senior executives from banks, crypto exchanges, payments companies and super-app operators to discuss regulation, industry cooperation and long-term business partnerships.

The gathering follows Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire’s visit to South Korea in April, when he met executives from KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Upbit, Bithumb, and several payments companies to explore possible collaborations.

Circle’s speaker lineup includes Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy and Operations Dante Disparte, Asia-Pacific Strategy and Policy Vice President David Allan Katz, Business Development Vice President Ben Morris, and Asia-Pacific Head Yam Ki Chan. Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun and Bae, Kim & Lee partner Park Jong-baek are scheduled to speak on behalf of the Korean financial industry, according to the event registration page.

Circle builds institutional presence

During his April visit, Allaire described South Korea as a “highly attractive” market because of its advanced technology sector, active digital asset participation, and established legal framework. He also said Circle was interested in working with Korean companies through the Circle Payments Network for cross-border payments.

The Seoul event comes days after Circle strengthened its regulated financial infrastructure in the United States. As previously reported by crypto.news, the company received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 10 to establish Circle National Trust, a federally supervised national trust bank.

Circle said the trust bank will initially provide digital asset custody services for the company and its affiliates before potentially expanding to eligible institutional clients. It could also support future management of USDC reserves, although the company has not announced a timeline for that transition.

Circle has also expanded USDC’s banking partnerships in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Standard Chartered launched an integrated service with Circle that allows eligible institutional clients to mint and redeem USDC through the bank’s platform without opening direct Circle accounts. 

The service, which debuted through Standard Chartered’s Dubai International Financial Centre operations, combines fiat banking, custody, and blockchain infrastructure for institutional users.

BNY has also deepened its relationship with Circle by adding USDC as the first stablecoin supported on its digital asset custody platform, enabling institutional clients to mint and redeem the stablecoin directly through the bank.

The Korea expansion comes as competition among dollar-backed stablecoin issuers continues to increase.

Circle shares fell 17% on June 30 after the launch of Open USD, a competing stablecoin model that allows participating companies to share income generated from reserve assets. The revenue-sharing structure differs from USDC’s model, where Circle retains control over reserve income and partnership terms.

Open USD’s rollout has also faced questions over its announced consortium. As previously reported by crypto.news, several South Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group, and K Bank, said they had not formally agreed to join the project despite being listed as participants. 

According to Chosun Biz, the companies said they had only discussed the proposal or expressed interest in reviewing it, while Open Standard has said OUSD will distribute reserve income among consortium members instead of retaining those earnings itself.